My name is Anish and I am an art director from a sleepy farming town in New Jersey.
There’s a cornfield near where I live. In high school, I missed my stop while sleeping, got dropped off by the field, and walked through the crop to get back home.
Before traversing through golden fields, I played football (the real one) on red dirt fields and drank sugarcane juice on the roadside with my father. My first steps, however, were on damp grey cobblestones under cloudy skies.
Culture and community have thus had a great impact on my life. It fostered a love of history, writing, and storytelling that I carry over into my creative work.
Through extensive research and cultural inquiry, I make work that puts the spotlight on people: the lives we’ve led, how time has shaped them, and what makes us who we are. I use a variety of media to do so, be it through block-printing, bookmaking, or animation.
When I’m not doing that, I spend my time holed up in my room watching or reading anything about European history (fiction or not).
BBC’s Merlin, I’m coming back for my 7th re-watch soon. Just you wait).